Spike Lee's new film about a Nazi massacre in Tuscany continued to stir controversy in Italy on Tuesday, after a village council decided to award the US director honorary citizenship.
Lee, who has angered Italian partisans by refusing to apologise for their mixed portrayal in the film, was granted the recognition for having brought the atrocity to the attention of audiences around the globe.
The movie tells the story of four African-American soldiers in Italy in 1944 but also explores an infamous Nazi slaughter in which 560 villagers, including 116 children, were killed.
The film has created a stir in Italy, where the massacre is a sensitive national issue, for suggesting that a partisan betrayed the coastal village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema to the Nazis.
But Stazzema Mayor Michele Silicani, who admitted Lee had used ''artistic licence'' in his interpretation, said the movie had brought to light ''what happened, as well as values such as the sacrifice and resistance of local people''.
''This film pays tribute to partisan values,'' he added. ''It's true that it depicts a partisan who betrayed civilians but above all, it is the tale of those partisans who fought to the death to defend civilians''.
However, one of the very few survivors of the massacre, 76-year-old Enrico Pieri, said he thought honorary citizenship was a step too far.
''I think Spike Lee has received more from Sant'Anna than he gave,'' said Pieri, whose mother and younger brother both died in the massacre.
Pieri, who escaped because he was hidden under a mass of bodies, said he would see the film but expressed annoyance over the fact none of the survivors had been consulted.
''I and the other survivors were available to work with the director but it did not happen,'' he said.
LEE DEFENDS PARTISAN PORTRAYAL.
Lee's film has generated heated criticism in Italy but the award-winning US director, who said he had spoken at length with survivors, said no story was ever straightforward.
''If this film creates debate that can only be a good thing,'' he said.
''I have no doubt the partisans were great but they weren't universally loved by civilians. There were some who fled into the mountains after an action, leaving the civilian population to bear the consequences.
''It's true there are different interpretations of the massacre but one thing is certain and it's the story I wanted to tell: that the SS 16th Division killed 560 civilians on August 12, 1944''.
Lee said he was genuinely sorry to have offended Italy's partisans but he said he had ''no intention of apologizing to anyone''.
The local branch of Italy's National Association of Partisans (ANPI) has criticized Lee's movie for being factually incorrect.
''He made this film without taking into account the exact truth of what happened at Sant'Anna di Stazzema,'' said the deputy president of the local ANPI, Giovanni Cipollini.
''This film is the result of information acquired by Lee but it has nothing to do with the historical truth that emerged from the judgment by the La Spezia Court''.
The events in the village of August 1944 have been the subject of a lengthy war crimes trial in the Tuscan city of La Spezia.
Last November, Italy's highest appeals court upheld the convictions of three former SS officers, now in their 80s and living in Germany, for their part in the massacre.
Although all three received life sentences, they were tried in absentia and Germany has so far refused to extradite them.
Seven others in command of the SS division that machine-gunned and destroyed the village near Lucca were also convicted in absentia in a separate trial.
The movie was based on a 2003 novel by US author, James McBride, who was keen to tell the forgotten tale of America's many black soldiers who served in the Second World War.
McBride, who also wrote the script, expressed regret at the controversy but said he had approached the subject with the best possible intentions.
''I am a commercial writer of historical novels and I simply wanted to bring the victims back to life,'' he said.
''As a black American, I have the utmost respect for partisans but I also wanted to show that anything is possible during war''.
Miracle At St. Anna was released in the US last weekend to unenthusiastic reviews, which applauded the subject matter but said the film was overly long and disconnected.
